After the Fall of man in the garden, the Lord immediately announced his reclamation project, which began with a promise.
God informed the serpent, the defiler, that one of Eve’s descendants would crush his head.
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NASB95)
Today we might say that God “trolled” Satan. How disappointed this fallen angel must have been after hearing that announcement! The Lord understood that he would insanely determine then and there to do everything within his power to defeat this purpose. We see this played out over the centuries in the devil’s doomed attempts to thwart God’s promise of a coming Messiah.
God chose Abraham as the man through whose progeny he would eventually birth this Savior into the world.
And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed [singular] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; Genesis 26:4 (NKJV)
Paul let us know that this singular “seed” is none other than our Lord Jesus.
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. Galatians 3:16 (NASB95)
Abraham’s biological progeny grew to a large number but were eventually enslaved in Egypt, a picture of the condition of all humanity under the tyrannical rule of Satan.
After 400 years, the Lord raised up Moses to confront and defeat the power of Pharaoh (a picture of Satan) and lead Abraham’s descendants out of bondage. In the process of leading them to the land God promised to give to Abraham and his descendants, God took Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai where he was given a heavenly vision of how to build a temporary tabernacle for God that would accompany the Israelites on the their journeys. God promised to dwell in the tabernacle which was called a “tent of meeting.” God’s manifest presence filled this tent, which Moses and Aaron were able to enjoy while the rest of the nation looked on from afar.
And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. 9 Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the LORD would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. 11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Exodus 33:8–11 (NASB95)
This must have been much like it was when God spent time with Adam and Eve in the Garden before the Fall. What a privileged access they enjoyed! It presaged the New Covenant access given to every born-again believer!
Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. Ephesians 3:12 (NLT)
The tabernacle in the wilderness was a picture of what God planned to do to restore the earth as a fit tabernacle for him and his people.
I will have more to say about this tabernacle in the next article.
After entering and conquering much of Canaan, eventually God established Saul as king. At one point, at the end of King Saul’s corrupt reign, upon his defeat at the hands of the Philistine army, the Ark of God’s presence was captured and placed in the pagan temple of Dagon. This defeat seemed to mirror what happened in the Garden. Perhaps Satan rejoiced, thinking he had once again turned away God’s purpose. However, God demonstrated his superiority and power over that false god and Satan’s power by knocking the Dagon idol to the ground and shattering it.
But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 1 Samuel 5:4 (NASB95)
This showed that God has the power single-handedly to defeat Satan, no matter how things might appear.
Eventually, after many years, David desired to construct what he considered would be a proper dwelling place for his God, perhaps not completely understanding that no structure formed by a human could contain his glory. Nevertheless, God used this as an opportunity to promise David that he would raise up one of his descendants to rule on God’s throne perpetually. (2 Samuel 7:12-13) The promised one would end up being the very same person that God promised Abraham would be a blessing to the entire earth – Jesus!
David’s son, Solomon, eventually constructed the temple. It was glorious by man’s standards, but nothing compared to the one God made at creation. It was not very long by God’s standards before this sanctuary or tabernacle was defiled utterly and destroyed by the Babylonians as a judgment for Israel’s infidelity. It was rebuilt during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, but once again it was defiled and later destroyed by the Romans, never to be rebuilt. This destruction was a picture of what is coming to the entire heavens and earth. (2 Peter 3:10-12)
Eventually the promised one arrived. John the apostle wrote that he was and is the eternal Word or Logos who became a human and “tabernacled” among us.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt [literally: tabernacled] among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NKJV)
The English word “dwelt” is the translation of the Greek word skenosen, which means to pitch or spread one’s tent. It is reminiscent of God’s pitching his tent with regard to creating the heavens, including the firmament.
Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. 3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; 4 He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. 5 He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. Psalm 104:2–5 (NASB95)
God’s reclamation of humanity and his tabernacle went into overdrive when the Word become flesh arrived on the fallen and corrupted earth.
Eventually, after Jesus died on the cross as his Father’s obedient Son and servant – the Lamb of God, God raised him from the dead and elevated him, as a resurrected man and the governmental head of a new humanity. He rose in power as the Lord of Lords, who will bring God’s elect into obedience and establish God’s rule. Eventually this glorious Jesus will return as the Son of Man to crush Satan completely and replace the corrupted tabernacle of the earth with a brand new version. At that point, God’s reclamation project will be complete.
